Shutdown costs Trump and parliament not a penny

The shutdown in the United States, Wednesday was the 33rd day started. More and more unpaid civil servants focus to food banks or pledging their tv in order to survive. But the president and parliament remain in the meantime without prejudice to paid.

The practical consequences of the ‘shutdown’, on december 22 began, more and more clearly feel. About 800,000 federal workers have their monthly salary is not received. More than half among them should just be unpaid work, because they are essential tasks. 350,000 employees sit forced unpaid at home.

As soon as there is a budget deal is closed, all government employees paid back. Their overdue wages, they get back. This is last week a law was adopted. But when that money is paid, that is the big question.

Less question marks are there around the salary of president Donald Trump and members of Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate. According to the U.s. constitution, the members of Congress their salary itself, outside the regular budget. When the budget is not adopted, and the government as is now the case in ‘shutdown’, then there is still a legal basis to pay the salaries of the members of parliament to be paid out.

Donation to charity

For the president applies a similar scheme, which is also constitutionally enshrined. Article 2 of that constitution states that the Congress can’t come to the salary of the president during his term of office. The president is thus assured of a salary during a shutdown.

What a president then does with that money is another matter. During his election campaign in 2016 promised Trump on several occasions that he had his salary – about 400,000 U.s. dollars per year – do not need, and would donate to charity. A promise which he fulfilled. As donated Trump his salary for the second quarter of 2018 to an association that cares for war veterans. He performs in the footsteps of John F. Kennedy and Herbert Hoover, who their full salaries also dutifully gave to charities.

Bad pr

That the members of parliament the consequences of a shutdown, not a personal feeling, can hardly good pr to be called. And that they realize themselves. Over the past few years they have, therefore, several attempts have been made to their wages freeze, when the government are locked. In 2011, the Senate even though the bill that had to settle, but ultimately it was rejected in the House.

The Democratic Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rakelde the discussion back on by the end of December in a tweet that the members of parliament during a shutdown, ” neither entitled to a salary’. That idea in practice, could, however, also a lot of feet in the earth. In the U.s. constitution states that members of parliament the rules governing their salaries, only just after an election can change. At the earliest, so until after the elections of 2020 – and by then, the current shutdown, hopefully, all behind the back.